Random Pictures of R

I have so many pictures from the last month, it's going to take me awhile to post them. I'm trying an experiment, writing about one kid at a time. This one is R. Eight & a half years old. Now, since he's no longer a 2nd grader, it's official. He's a third grader. Wow.

In this picture, he is at the "treehouse" he and his brother discovered in the forest nearby. They have been working together on "improvements." Except J complains that all R does is watch while he does all the work. As much is getting done, I'm not too worried about who's "job" it is.


On a trip to Versailles to look at the fountains, it was a beautiful day. There are lots of expanses of green grass where people picnicked and frolicked. Here, R is working on his cartwheel. Still could use some work.


The entire second grade (about 35 kids) went on an extended field trip to "Circus Camp." They all got to learn all the different things - trapeze, juggling, tight-"rope"-walking, ball-walking, hoops, clowning, etc. Then, they chose their
two favorites to perform for the parents. He chose ball-walking and clowning. They had great costumes and tremendous support from the staff.

Here he is telling his joke about "Burpee the Flea." He was the only kid to perform solo (she's holding the microphone for him). I'll post the video when T gets it out from the entire circus performance.


He was awesome! Her he is afterwards, with makeup still on. With me, his proud mama.


It's fun to be his mom. (Even though he often drives me crazy). So what else is new?

I'll try to make a post like this for each kid over the next week or two.

School's out

Well, for the big guys, anyway. Today was the last day of school. Lots of people are leaving permanently, or moving on to other assignments.

It's interesting. I have made a home/community within the school and the expat population here. One thing that didn't occur to me as I did this, is... people leave. There's no getting around it. It is a constantly revolving door here.

So, today I had to say goodbye to new friends. I like the idea of keeping in touch. But I'm not sure how well it will work out. Hopefully this blog will be one of the ways in which I do it.

Which is, I guess why I started it in the first place. So, even if I don't post regularly, it's still more than I would be doing if I were trying to keep in touch by emailing or calling my friends.

I may or may not get around to posting last month's pictures. I'm not that great at doing the "backlog" stuff. But, as my writing coach pointed out, I need to remember the purpose of writing. Which, here, is to stay connected.

I'll be visiting the states soon - Colorado from July 25 - Aug 1, and Texas Aug 2 - 11. Let me know if we can get together.

Since the older boys are out of school now, most (but not all) of my school-related activities are done. I am looking forward to exploring a little of Paris with big kids. I'll (try to remember to) keep you posted. :)

Oh, Hi there...

It's not that I haven't had anything to write about. It's not even that I've been so busy I don't have time to write. It's not that I don't care.

Come to think of it, I don't really know why I haven't posted in almost a month. Hmmm. Let's see if I can recap what's been happening in the past 30 days...

In order of what I remember...

1. Birthday party for J;
2. Birthday party for A;
3. Planning birthday party for me;
4. Day-trip to Chartres - the labyrinth was OPEN!
5. Tour through the Les Halles district of Paris;
6. Planning all above activities;
7. Jazzercise;
8. Physical Therapy for sore knee;
9. Osteopath for sore knee;
10. Planning trip to USA (July 24 - Aug 14);
11. Signing kids up for summer camps on two continents;
12. Discovering originally-planned summer camp no longer exists;
13. Finding new camps for same time period;
14. Day trip to Versailles with boys;
15. Tour of Monmartre;
16. Sending two older boys on two different extended field trips;
17. Two-day trip to Epernay (Champagne region), with accompanying winery tours;
18. Watching R be a clown (and gymnast) in the circus;
19. Lying in the middle of a field of rapseed grass;

More, but I have a request to play/teach backgammon. I'll post pictures from the month soon.

Flower Happy

Last Friday I went to Giverny with two other women from my older kids' school. I was very excited to be invited, and to be able to say yes. I've been here for ten (eleven!?) months. I'm starting to feel comfortable enough to explore more. (Of course, it helps to have someone else drive.)

Giverny is the place where Claude Monet lived, gardened and did many of his more famous paintings. It is a place filled with flowers and with light.

I am not a photographer normally, but I really had fun trying to make good pictures from this stunning garden. You can't not take pictures here. Tell me what you think...

Looking out the bedroom window from his maison.

Puff ball.

Two flowers growing together.

Irises are my all-time favorite flower.

They smelled as wonderful as they looked.

My friend Laurie appreciating a Japanese Maple.

On THE Bridge.

Looking off THE bridge.

Another bridge.

Another bridge across the water. Apparently the lillies bloom in July and August. I'd like to go again, and bring the boys & T to see it.

I think they'd like the bugs too.

And other growing things.

Tania & Laurie & the Weeping Willow.

Gotta remember to look up too. These were above us.

This amazing flower, grows from...


These cones that resemble pinecones! They came in every color of the sunset - red, pink, orange, purple, peach!

More irises.

Don't know what these are, but I like how I caught the light.

There I am with Laurie, along the garden path.

This is a better picture of the path.

I thought the slug was cool too - hanging by his own slime.

Another iris.

It had just rained, and water droplets were on everything.

If you enlarge this, you can see the bumble-bee flying up into the flower. They all but disappeared inside.

Spring in France

It occurs to me that if I want people to read my blog, I ought to post occasionally. Or something. Anyway, without further ado, here are pictures in no particular order. Yes, I know I need a new camera.


This is A. I don't remember what he was building, but he was VERY proud. A photo was requested & provided.


J & R have found a partially built tree house in the forest nearby. They have taken it upon themselves to continue the project. As you can see, they have added a number of ties, and many branches. T says to point out to Aunt Barbara the excellent use they have made of potholder-making kit you provided to R on his 6th birthday. Good they're getting some use.


This is R during his report on Mexico. He worked VERY hard on it, and was VERY proud of himself. For "International Day," the second-graders prepared a quiz for the parents, asking questions about various countries. That is R's question: "How do they say 'chewing gum' in Mexico?" (Answer: chicle).

Lilacs growing in our yard. I love them. T thinks they stink. But since I'm the one home most of the day, I get to bring them inside as I please. Fortunately for him, the roses are now blooming, so I guess I'll pick those next. (Our yard continues to delight!)

Playing with the camera. I love how lilacs are actually a whole bunch of little flowers, rather than just one big one. Wonder if that's what makes them smell so strongly?

In the fall, I collected nuts & berries from the neighborhood. There are so many things blooming, I thought I'd try doing it again, but with flowers.

On Mother's Day, I celebrated by leaving the kids at home in T's care, and visiting the part of the city called Montmartre with a (new) friend. This is one of the re-stored windmills that the Moulin Rouge is modeled after.

We went to Montmartre with a tour guide, who told us a number of wonderful stories. One was about this man, walking through a wall. Apparently, he wasn't very bright, and accidentally divested himself of the ability to walk through walls mid-stride. Oops.

At the top of the hill is the famous Sacre Couer, with throngs & throngs of people. I remembered this from my second trip to Europe, as a teenager backpacking. This day they were singing Bob Dylan songs on the steps overlookign the city. I remember Beatles songs. My friend wondered why they don't sing in French. Dunno.

Drum roll, please...

The title of my book will be:

Peace in Paper: A radical step-by-step guide for embracing organization as a path to serenity

Now I get to work on the back cover copy, and then back to the table of contents again. (For the few of you who don't know... I've been working on this book for eight years.) The end is in sight. Hooray!

Cool Stuff

I just read the coolest article. I love my Fast Company magazine because it keeps me up on what's happening in the world, trend-wise. I learned about Twitter long before anyone started doing it.

One of the things I really liked is that someone decided to do it, long before there was any way to make money off of it - it just seemed cool. This is what happens when you experiment with things. Way cool!

On another note, I am working on my book again. The title I'm noodling over is this:

Peace in Paper: A step-by-step guide for using organization to find serenity and manifest dreams

I know it's too long, but it's getting there. Comments welcome.